Celebrating 20 Years of Signature in the Schools

As Signature in the Schools quickly approaches its 20th anniversary, its staff and students look back fondly on the many productions and memories they have been a part of. To help celebrate this momentous occasion (and ten-year writing partnership with longtime Signature favorite and newly appointed Resident Director Joe Calarco), the Signature Education Department is proud to present the Signature in the Schools Festival! Part showcase, part pop-up fringe, all fun, this two week long festival features four separate productions of former Signature in the Schools shows by local high schools. The shows will all be performed in the beautiful MAX Theatre at Signature in January 2015.

Original Productions Photos of Eve of Destruction, Revolution, Image is Everything, and Aftershock. All photos by Dennis Deloria. 

In order to prep you for a flurry of talent and amazing productions, we have prepared a brief primer on each show. 

Salat 

Eve of Destruction

(Originally titled Eve of Destruction)
Presented and performed by Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Directed by Tracie Jade Jenkins 
Date: January 17th at 11AM
Summary: While his classmates study Ancient Sumer, Daniel struggles with his own relationship to Iraq, where his father was blinded in the First Gulf War. While Rasha, a young girl in modern Basra, writes hopeful letters to her imaginary American friend, two Iraqi boys wrestle with how to take action in a time of great change. These two stories, intertwined with the ancient Sumerian story of Lugalbanda, ultimately carry heartbreaking and shocking connections.

Revolution
Presented and performed by Bishop Ireton High School
Directed by Joanna Henry

Revolution

Date: January 18th at 11AM
Summary: It’s 2011. The events that would come to be known as the Arab Spring are underway. The Occupy Movement is in its infancy. With the world changing at a rapid pace, a group of young students find themselves grappling to identify with and understand the surrounding revolutionary fervor. One student, Patrick, struggles in quiet desperation with changes that could prove to be more than he can handle. Visited by Basma Bouazizi, sister of revolutionary Mohammed Bouazizi, Patrick’s story becomes a sobering exploration of the origins of revolutions and the consequences of upheaval.

Image is Everything

Image is Everything
Presented and performed by Oakton High School
Directed by Vanessa Gelinas
Date: January 24th at 11AM
Summary: Inspired by Leni Riefenstahl’s legendary propaganda film, Triumph of the Will, which chronicled the Nazi Party rallies and helped to glorify German leader Adolf Hitler, Image is Everything focuses on themes of propaganda, conformity and personal responsibility. Taking place in the present day, a group of students study the tragic events of the Holocaust and are forced to face the fact that propaganda didn’t just die with Nazi Germany but is alive and well in America, even in their very own school.

Aftershock
Presented and Performed by High School Students From Across the DC Area
Directed by Joe Calarco

Aftershock

Date: January 25th at 11AM
Summary: While trying to write a paper about the aftermath of tragedy, high school student Ruthie turns to her brother Timothy, a Red Cross worker, for stories of survival. He tells her the story of Ayana, a young woman facing tough choices while stranded on a roof in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also brings to life Negie, a Congolese girl who witnessed the unspeakable deaths of her family before escaping into the jungle. Closer to home, Timothy tells Ruthie the story of their ancestors, Ruth and Sarah, reunited in Belgium after the Holocaust and struggling to maintain their identities. Ruthie’s own experience of tragedy breaks through in surprising ways as she absorbs the stories of these incredible survivors.


The Signature in the Schools 20th Anniversary Festival is sure to not be missed this January. Tickets are available here and through our box office at 703 820 9771. We can't wait to share these amazing pieces, students and artists with the rest of the world.

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Hero Worship - Words From the Writer

As you may know, Signature in the Schools Hero Worship is slated to have its first public performance this evening at 8:00 pm. We on staff in the Education Department at Signature Theatre thought it would be interesting to hear from the writer of the show himself, Joe Calarco, and his ideas, thoughts, and reasons for this show and this program as a whole.

I’ve been writing for the Signature in the Schools program for the past nine years. Most of the pieces I have written have dealt with, at least in part, some conflict going on in the world either now or in the past. Each year, I try and find some parallel in our contemporary world so that the actors can more passionately dive into their characters and so that the student audiences who come and see the play can more easily relate to what they’re seeing on stage.

Hero Worship (2014). Photo by Matt Strote

This year’s play, like half of the nine plays I have written for the program, focuses on America at War. I realized tonight that by the time I wrote my first play for this program, America was engaged in two wars. By my second year with the program I was ready to write about America’s conflict in Iraq. This year’s play is about D-Day but also focuses on modern teenagers wrestling with the current war we are engaged in. In writing this play I realized that there are students in the program this year who have little to recollection of a time when America has not been at war.

Revolution (2013). Photo by Denni Deloria 

Only a half of one percent of the U.S. population serves in the military, so like much of the country who doesn’t serve or know someone currently serving, for me war and armed conflict can feel distant, like something that is happening “over there. As “up” on current events as I like to think I am, writing these pieces has taught me that I am not nearly as present or aware as I should be.

I think these students learn something as well. What they learn goes far beyond what it means to be a theatre artist. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. They’re doing their own research on the wars covered in the play and on PTSD. Their worldview is expanding as a result of this influx of information. And if there is an argument for why this program should be more funded, and more well known, that is it. I think what Signature Theater and David Zobell, led by Marcia Gardner before him, are doing is unique and vital and is changing young people’s lives for the better.

Un-American (2012). Photo by Dennis Deloria.

Hero Worship performs March 10th and March 17th at 8:00 PM. Tickets are free, but reservations are required. To reserve seat, call 703-820-9771.

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Today in Theatre History: Re-Imagining the Past

TODAY IN THEATRE HISTORY: June 12th

In the “Today in Theatre History” series, we take a specific event in theatre history and use it as a starting point for discussion about aspects of theatre – past, present, and future.

By Irene Casey, Education Intern 

On June 12th, 1977 the original Broadway production of Pippin closed after 1,944 performances
 

The cast of the 1972 Broadway production of Pippin.Source: http://dramaleague.org/blog/2012/03/12/diane-paulus-to-stage-new-pippin-at-a-r-t-this-winter/ 

Broadway today is filled with "revivals." But what do people mean when they say that something is a revival? That the show has already been produced somewhere? Or that it has already been on Broadway? How different are revivals from the original production? Typically, a revival means a new production of an old show, which brings us to what happened today in theatre history: the original Broadway production of Pippin closing in 1977.

The original Broadway production of Pippin opened on October 13, 1972 (after a try out in D.C.). Pippin's book was written by Roger O. Hirson, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and was originally directed by Bob Fosse. Fosse saw the musical, which follows a medieval prince as he becomes embroiled with a troupe of players on his quest to find his place in the word, as a surreal experience and wanted his production to disturb audiences.

Since its first production, Pippin has been performed all over the country and the world. This year, for the first time, Pippin returned to Broadway. The revival was developed at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and directed by Diane Paulus. Just this week, it won four Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. While the A.R.T. revival differed from the original production by trimming the first musical number and using an alternate ending, the biggest change was the way that Paulus envisioned the players. Instead of a troupe of actors, they became a troupe of circus performers, filling the musical with wild, bold spectacle. 

Paulus's revival of Pippin departs from the original in several ways. Major re-imaginings of shows are not out of the ordinary today. Whenever directors approach scripts, they think about how they want the story to be told. Each production is different because each production has different directors, designers and actors developing it. It's true that some productions stick fairly closely to the interpretation of the original production, while others take the musical or play in an entirely different direction, choosing to highlight or introduce different elements in the show. More and more productions of classic musicals and plays are closer to being adaptations than simply revivals, with directors re-imagining them to bring them into the modern day. 

Signature is know for taking big musicals and performing them in our black box theatres, creating intimate original stagings of shows that were often originally seen in giant proscenium theatres.

Signature's production of Les Miserables transformed the musical. Trevor Nunn's internationally acclaimed original production, relied heavily upon a turntable in its design. But director Eric Schaeffer used a 3/4 thrust stage that pushed the action into the middle of the audience, creating a grittier production happening just feet away from the audience. Chairs hung from the ceiling and set pieces moved on and off from the stage, entering as one thing only to re-enter a scene later as something completely different.

In 2006, the Washington Post described Signature's Assassins as a "startling new staging." Director Joe Calarco (a Signature regular) went beyond merely placing the piece in a black box and onto a way that had never been seen before. The set was a literal mirror image of the audience: rows and rows of chairs on risers, all identical to what the audience was sitting in. This brought the idea that these disenfranchised assassins and would-be assassins 
are just like the rest of us home in frightening and unsettling ways.

What dramatic re-imaginings of blockbuster musicals will be seen on Signature's stages next season? First up, will be an environmental production of Miss Saigon, meaning the entire theatre will become part of the set. As soon as the audience enters the theatre, they will enter the broken world of 1970s Vietnam. Check it out here.

 

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Revolution: The Costumes

We're only a few weeks away from opening night for Revolution, the premiere Signature in the Schools play by Joe Calarco. As we prep for production, we thought you'd give you a sneak peak of some of the amazing costumes designer Collin Ranney is putting together for us. Needless to say, these designs have all of us very excited.

Caroline Barrett
Design by Collin Ranney

Marcus Bennington
Design by Collin Ranney

Andy Cranston
Design by Collin Ranney

Caryna Ruiz
Design by Collin Ranney

Revolution performs in the MAX at Signature on February 18th and 25th at 7:30 PM. Tickets for Revolution are free and available through the Signature Box Office at 703 820 9771.

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